THE basis of our acceptance of the
Bible is the belief that it embodies a divine revelation. But at once the
question arises as to how the authority of this revelation is expressed.
This brings us to the problem of Inspiration.

At the outset two things should be said: (1) If we
accept the Authority of Scripture we really need not trouble about any particular
theory of Inspiration, but (2) if we seek to know as fully as we can what
Inspiration means we should confine ourselves strictly to facts, since
Inspiration when properly understood is not a theory, but a fact. It is something
we accept, whether we can explain it or not.

1. The Source of the Bible  We believe
that the Bible comes from a divine Source. The Old Testament prophets claimed
to be the recipients of divine revelation. "The word of the Lord came"; "the
Lord spake"; "the word of God"; "God said"; "the Lord

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commanded." Phrases like these are found nearly seven hundred times
in the Pentateuch alone, and they are scattered throughout the Scriptures
no less than three thousand times altogether. There is one verse, which,
whatever else it means, certainly makes this plain: 2 Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit
of the Lord spake by me, and his word was on my tongue."

In harmony with this, we have a claim in the New
Testament, of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. In some passages
there is no reference to the human writer of the Scripture, but only to the
divine Author. In Hebrews 3:7, we read, "The Holy Spirit saith..." This refers
to Psalm 95, which was, of course, written by a man, David or some one else,
and yet there is no reference at all to a human author. This use shows that
the writer is concerned, not with what the Psalmist said, but with the Holy
Spirit's utterances, and this means that the Holy Spirit is the Author of
Scripture.

The attitude of the New Testament to the Old Testament
shows the same truth. Over fifty times in the New Testament, is the Old Testament
spoken of as of divine origin and authority, and always with the deference
due

2. The Instruments of the Bible  The
Holy Spirit used men as the instruments of divine revelation. There are a
number of passages where the divine and the human are mentioned; where the
distinction is drawn very clearly between the divine Author and the human
instrument. Thus in Matthew 1:22, we have "Spoken of the Lord by the prophet;"
in Acts 1:16, "The Holy Spirit spake by the mouth of David," and in 2 Peter
1:21, "Holy men of old spake as they were moved [carried along] by the Holy
Spirit." So that as the instruments of the Spirit's work, the men were first
the speakers, and then the writers of divine revelation. And yet "instrument"
does not mean passivity, as "pens," but rather, the thought is expressed
by the word in the case of penmen. Inspiration is a concursus of the
divine and human.

3. The Media of the Bible  I do not know any
other term than this that will better express my idea. I mean the words of
the men (2 Peter 1:21). The men themselves are not alive now, and if we are
to be in touch with their revelation, it must be though their

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words; and if we are to be sure of the revelation from God, then
for us today we must be sure of what the men wrote, as they are not here
to speak for themselves.

Let us notice 2 Timothy 3:16. Whether we follow the
Authorized Version or the Revised Version, the thought is: "Every writing
is God-breathed." God, somehow or other, breathed into these writings, and
therefore we are concerned with words.

Now look at 1 Corinthians 2:13. Dr. Forsyth says the
chapter is classic for the apostolic view of inspiration. Mark this:
"Words which the Holy Spirit teacheth." Could anything be more definite
and clear than this? Not the words with man's wisdom teacheth, but the
words which "the Holy Spirit teachest." And so there is an intimate,
a necessary connection, between thoughts and words. Whether it be for our
own thinking, or for intercourse between man and man, thoughts must be expressed
in words. And this is exactly what Bishop Westcott says in his Essay on
Inspiration! "Thoughts are wedded to words as necessarily as soul is to body."
So when we speak of the media of the Bible, we are concerned with
words.

But some one says: Does not this mean

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"verbal inspiration"? Well, we can call it verbal inspiration if
we like, or we can call it plenary inspiration, if we prefer, so long as
we do not call it dictation. When a man dictates a letter to his secretary,
he does not inspire her. It is mechanical dictation, and he expects her to
reproduce exactly what he tells her. But in Scripture we do not have mechanical
dictation, but inspiration; and whether we call it verbal or plenary, the
phrase is not intended to say how God does it, but how far it had gone. It
means that inspiration extends to the form as well as to the substance, that
it reaches to the words as well as to the thoughts, in order that we may
be sure of the thoughts; for how are we to know God's thoughts if we do not
know his words? God used the natural characteristics of the writers, and
through them conveyed his truth.

But does it not say" "The letter killeth, the spirit
giveth life"? It does; but in that phrase Paul is not concerned with the
letter of inspiration as opposed to the spirit. That is an entirely false
idea of the passage. Again some one says: "We want the inspiration of the
thoughts, not of the words: Now what do we really mean by inspiration or
authority

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in the thoughts? Surely this must be expressed in the words, and
the objections raised to the inspiration of words are just as valid against
the inspiration of thoughts.

Surely inspiration cannot mean an uninspired account
of inspired thoughts. How did Moses remember God's revelation found in Exodus
25 to 30, or Isaiah remember that which is found in chapters 8 to 12, or
Hosea remember the contents of chapters 4 to 11? As these are evidently
continuous revelations, are we to rely on the writers' memory only, and on
no other faculty? As Dr. Kuyper has truly said: "You can as easily have music
without notes or mathematics without figures as thoughts without
words."

Let us notice 1 Corinthians 14:37, "If any man think
himself to be spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write are
the commandments of the Lord." Here we see both the human instrument and
the divine authority.

This is how Dr. A.T. Pierson has put the matter.

"There are, with regard to this question of verbal inspiration,
or the oversight of the very words of Scripture, five important significant
passages in the Word of God:

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Hebrews 12:27; Galatians 4:9; John 8:58; John 10:34-36; Galatians
3:16. If these passages are examined it will be seen that in the first instance
the argument turns on one phrase, 'yet once more.' In the second, on the
passive voice rather than the active voice of the verb. In the third, on
the present rather than on the past tense. In the fourth, on the inviolability
of a single word; and in the fifth, on the retention of the singular number
of a noun, rather than the plural. Taking the five passages together, they
teach us that, to alter or omit a phrase, change the voice or mood or tense
of a verb, change a single word or even the number of a noun, is to break
the Scriptures; and if this does not come close to verbal inspiration, then
I am no judge."

The use of the Bible today is a wonderful confirmation
of this view. We regard it as our authoritative court of appeal, and we rest
upon its words as our warrant, and the fact that we employ a concordance,
be it Greek, or Hebrew, or English, is another testimony to this belief.
It points to the value, the meaning, the force, and the extent of
words.

This was the view of the Apostolic Church.

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Bishop Westcott, in the Essay to which I have already referred,
says that the doctrine of inspiration as held in the Apostolic churches was
that it was supernatural in source, unerring in truthfulness, and that it
comprised words as well as subject-matter. This, according to the Bishop,
is the view of the earliest churches, and certainly it has also been that
of a great many churches since the Apostolic days.

We notice, too, the precise form of the appeal of
the New Testament to the Old: "It is written." It is not "it is thought,"
or "it is suggested," but, "it is written." And the Lord Himself said, in
John 10:35, "The Scripture cannot be broken." So we are on perfectly safe
ground when we ask attention to the words of Scripture as the media of the
men who spake by the Holy Spirit.

As Dr. J.H. Brookes used to say, about Exodus 4:10-12,
it is not "I will be with thy mind and teach thee what thou shalt think,"
but "I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say," because
while it does not so much matter what Moses thought, it does matter what
he actually said.

4. The Substance of the Bible  What is
the outcome of this Source, these instruments

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and media? Truth. This is the substance of the Bible. First of
all, truth in its reality. The greatest authority we have, the Lord Jesus,
once said, "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). Truth in its reality is found
in this book. As Dr. Denney remarks, "When a man submits his mind to the
Spirit which is in the Bible, it never misleads him about the way of salvation,
it brings him invariably to that knowledge of God which is eternal life.
The most vital truth about it is covered by the terms inspiration and
infallibility, and in virtue of this truth it is indispensable and authoritative
to the mind of every age."

Secondly, Truth in its uniqueness. We can test the
work of the Holy Spirit in regard to the Bible very simply. Take the writings
of A.D. 50 to 100. Then take the writings from A.D. 100 to 150. Compare them,
and, as it has been well said, between the New Testament writings of A.D.
50 to 100, and the most post-apostolic writings of A.D. 100 to 150, there
is a chasm, "sheer, deep, and abysmal." The finest writings of the second
century cannot compare with the writings of the first century. When the Christian
faith was settling itself in the world, the Holy Spirit was working in a
unique manner. He was at work

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as the Spirit of inspiration. But from A.D. 100 to 150 we do not
have inspiration; but illumination. From that time forward and ever since,
there has been constant illumination, but no new revelation. John Robinson,
of Leyden, said: "The Lord hath yet more light and truth to bread forth from
His Word." True, but it is from His Word. We have not reached the end of
it yet, but there it is, ready for the Holy Spirit to illuminate its pages.
What does all this involve but the fact of a divine, unique
inspiration?